Craik, Dinah; A LIFE FOR A LIFE (1859) There, after writing this, I went and pulled down my hair, and tied it under my chin to prevent cold - oh! most prudent five-and-twenty...
Beale, Anne; THE BARONET'S FAMILY (1852) She wished herself stretched, instead of her beloved sister, upon a dying-bed, and like her rejoicing in the prospect of a happy eternity...Dearly as she loved that sister, she could not pray for her life...to die young seemed perfect felicity.
Watts-Dunton, Theodore; AYLWIN: THE RENASCENCE OF WONDER (1898) I felt that from my mouth there issued a voice not mine - a long smothered shriek like that which had seemed to issue from my mouth on that awful night when, looking out of the window, I had heard the noise of the landslip. Then I felt myself whispering "The Curse!" Then I knew no more.
Werner, E; BEACON-FIRES (1891) "...And am I to believe this of my only son...When I set you to watch this young person, while she was in your betrothed's society, she bewitched you yourself, for you are palpably bewitched; and yet she plays the part of injured virtue, of a deeply-insulted saint. This creature..."
Buxton Mrs; JENNIE OF THE PRINCE'S (1876) All days long bygone are associated in Jennie's mind with her mother. Her merry, laughing mother, who was always so happy, so loving, so tender, who had sung to her, read to her, told her endless and wonderful stories; the mother whose voice was low and sweet, whose smile was glad, who had heard the father's step first always, and had run out to meet him and welcome him, and had taught Jennie to love and obey - papa.
Cockton, Henry; THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF VALENTINE VOX (1840) On ringing the office-bell, their ears were addressed by a slight consumptive tick, when, as that caused the door to fly open, they entered, and beheld an emaciated little being, who was then in the act of enjoying a pinch of snuff, which appeared to be the only luxury within his reach...
Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur; THE WHITE COMPANY (1891) "Holy Mary!" said she, "what shall I do? Mother will keep me to my chamber for a month and make me work at the tapestry of the nine bold knights. She promised as much last week, when I fell into Wilverley bog, and yet she knows that I cannot abide needlework."
Corelli, Marie; VENDETTA: OR THE STORY OF ONE FORGOTTEN (1886) "The hand moves - it lifts itself, - the small fingers point at me threateningly - they quiver...and then - they beckon me slowly, solemnly, commandingly onward!...onward!...to some infinite land of awful mysteries where Light and Love shall dawn for me no more!"
Craik, Dinah; A NOBLE LIFE (1866) ...Helen was forced to believe this - God, who had taken away from him so much, had given him something still more: - a spiritual insight so deep and clear, that he was happy in spite of his heavy misfortune.
Disraeli, Benjamin; CONINGSBY (1844) The pallid countenance, the lack-lustre eye, the hoarse voice clogged with accumulated phlegm, indicated too surely the irreclaimable and hopeless votary of lollypop, the opium-eater of school-boys.
Edwards, Mrs Annie; THE MORALS OF MAYFAIR (1858) It was a fearful sound - half sob, half groan - wrung from the bosom of an iron man in his first moment of despair, and Philip prayed that he might never hear the like again. He looked in his uncle's face; it was white, and drawn as though paralysed, and under a hideous apprehension, Philip cried - "Oh! speak to me - one word, dear uncle - only one word!"
Everett-Green, Evelyn; HER HUSBAND'S HOME (1887) "No one can afford to be independent of public opinion - least of all a woman, and a woman whose husband is not on the spot to guide and control her."
Fowler, Ellen Thorneycroft; CONCERNING ISABEL CARNABY (1898) "One of my chief reasons in getting married is to secure to myself the right of wearing a tiara," remarked Isabel; "I consider that a woman of thirty without a tiara is as indecent as a woman of ninety without a cap. Women must be crowned with either youth or diamonds, or else must hide their diminished heads under the cloak of religion, and retire into nunneries and sisterhoods."
Gissing, George; THE NETHER WORLD (1889) It is high summertide. With joy does the awaking publican look forth upon the blue-misty heavens, and address his adorations to the sun-god, inspirer of thirst. Throw wide the doors of the temple of Alcohol! ...Io Saturnalia!
Gray, A M Mrs; MARY SEAHAM (1852) Was not hers a happiness rare and almost unexampled, to find the hero of her maiden meditations thus prove in truth the master and magician of her fate?
Greenwood, Jessie; NELLY BLYTHE (1890) Only a moment ago she had told herself with rejoicing that she was in love with the Marquis, but now as she leant on his breast she understood that her love for him was as different to his love for her as a little mountain stream is different to a great busy river, and the knowledge brought heartache with it.
Haggard, H Rider; SHE: A HISTORY OF ADVENTURE (1887) "Sit," said She, pointing to the couch. "As yet thou hast no cause to fear me. When thou hast cause, thou shalt not fear for long, for I shall slay thee. Therefore let thy heart be light."
Hewlett, Maurice; THE LIFE AND DEATH OF RICHARD YEA-AND-NAY (1900) The abbot, as one thunderstruck, raised his hands on high. "O sack of sin!" he groaned, "O dross for the melting pot! O unspeakable sacrifice!"
James, G P R; ATTILA (1837) It was night, but no bright moon compensated for the absence of the greater orb, and the air was dark, though the sky itself shone with all its innumerable sparks of golden light. It was one of those nights in which the depth of the heavens becomes apparent, in which each separate star is seen hanging distinct and apart from all the rest, a lamp of everlasting fire in the blue profound of space.
Jefferies, Richard; AFTER LONDON (1885) His brain became unsteady, and flickering things moved about him; yet, though alarmed, he was not afraid...
Kingsley, Henry; GEOFFREY HAMLYN (1859) "I eat my dinner not so much for the sake of the dinner itself, as for the after-dinnerish feeling which follows: a feeling that you have nothing to do, and that if you had you'd be shot if you'd do it."
Kingston, W H; THE MATE OF THE LILY "There is one thing a man should consider before he jumps overboard, and that is, whether there is too much sea on to allow of a boat being lowered, for if there is he will not only lose his own life, but cause the loss of others."
Le Fanu, J Sheridan; THE ROSE AND THE KEY (1871) It is alleged as a scientific fact, that a man may go into an oven, which I take to be something of the nature of a Turkish bath and sit there with a raw mutton-pie suspended by a string in his hand, and come out, himself nothing worse with the same mutton-pie perfectly well baked.
Linton, Eliza Lynn; THE ATONEMENT OF LEAM DUNDAS (1876) Before he married he had lost his soul in reveries on "burning orbs" and "beautiful tigresses"; after he married he thought that the dullest and most prosaic hen-wife, whose poetry translated itself in pickles and preserves, and whose heroism was the heroism of a patient, plodding, domestic drudge, would have been infinitely more his ideal than this superb creature of fire and torment, beauty and disgust.
Lyall, Edna; IN SPITE OF ALL (1901) "...with dog-bites you should never take half-measures. I must put a hot iron to it, so screw up your courage laddie, and think how brave Cranmer thrust his hand into the flames".
MacColl, Hugh; EDNOR WHITLOCK (1891) "But love is not a wicked passion?" objected Laura. Amy was silent. So was Laura. Both fell into a long and profound reverie. At last Amy sighed, and then declared herself as follows: Love is not always a wicked passion, of course, or else marriage would be wicked; but I think it is sometimes."
Marsh, Richard; THE BEETLE (1897) "And what does all the world know of him? - I ask you that! A flashy, plausible, shallow-pated, carpet-bagger, - that is what all the world knows of him. The man's a political adventurer, - he snatches a precarious, and criminal, notoriety, by trading on the follies of his fellow-countrymen. He is devoid of decency, destitute of principle, and impervious to all the feelings of a gentleman..."
Mason, A E W; MIRANDA OF THE BALCONY (1899) She held out her hand with a gingerly manner of timidity, and pressed his fingers when they touched hers, as though she could not help herself, and then hastily drew her hand away, as if she was ashamed and alarmed at her forwardness.
Montgomery, Florence; MISUNDERSTOOD (1869) ...would not the child one day thank Death, the destroyer, who, in uprooting him fresh and green from the earth, would transplant him to the rich soil of God's own garden, where, in the sunshine of his Maker's presence, he should open into that perfection which is unknown among the children of men?
Moore, George; ESTHER WATERS (1894) "Perhaps you haven't considered that novels are very often stories about the love of men for other men's wives. Such books can serve no good purpose."
Morris, William; THE GLITTERING PLAIN (1891) Therwith he turned to the fairest of the damsels, and she was white-skinned and fragrant as the lily, rose-cheeked and slender, and the wind played with the long locks of her golden hair, which hung down below her knees; so he cast his arms about her and strained her to his bosom, and kissed her face many times, and she nothing loth, but caressing him with lips and hand.
Newman, John Henry; CALLISTA: A SKETCH OF THE 3RD CENTURY (1855) "Pray! pray! fudge and nonsense!" cried Jucundus, almost mimicking him in his indignation; "pray! who thanks you for your prayers? what's the good of prayers? Prayers indeed! ha, ha! A little loyalty is worth all the praying in the world. I'll tell you what, Agellius; you are, I am sorry to say it, but you are hand and glove with a set of traitors, who shall and will be smoked out like a nest of wasps..."
Oliphant, Margaret; WITHIN THE PRECINCTS (1879) Even with those girls who think they believe that the admiration of men is all they care for, the approbation of a woman above their own rank is always a more touching and more thorough triumph than any admiration of men.
Ouida; Strathmore: a Life's Romance (1865) "It is as easy to follow the wayward flight of a bird on the wing, or an April wind's wanton vagaries as it blows over field and flower, as to sift the reasons of a woman's will - of a coquette's caprices!
Phillpotts, Eden; CHILDREN OF THE MIST (1898) Unshed rains massed on the high tors, but towards the west one great band of primrose sky rolled out above the vanished sun and lighted a million little amber lamps in the hanging crystals of the rain. They twinkled on thorns and briars, on the grass, the silver crosiers of uncurling fens, and all the rusty-red young heather.
Reade, Charles; LOVE ME LITTLE LOVE ME LONG (1859) "You could be a better parson, lawyer, or doctor than nine out of ten: but they won't let us; they know we could beat them into fits at anything but brute strength and wickedness. So they have shut all those doors in us poor girls' faces."
Smedley, Frank E; FRANK FAIRLEIGH; OR, SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF A PRIVATE PUPIL (1850) "Reading mathematics, as I'm a slightly inebriated Christian!" exclaimed Archer, taking the book out of my hands; if that isn't cool for a man who may be going to be shot at six o'clock to-morrow morning, for anything he knows to the contrary, I'm no judge of temperature."
Smith, Albert; THE STRUGGLES AND ADVENTURES OF CHRISTOPHER TADPOLE (1847) The daisies and buttercups had long ago turned in and closed their petals up into their own nightcaps; and many a shining-coated insect cuddled itself up within the little tents thus made, until they opened in the morning sunlight, and washed their bright awnings in the dew-drops.
Stables, Dr William Gordon; KIDNAPPED BY CANNIBALS (1899) "Daddy! Daddy! But surely I may go and say farewell to Mrs Grant and Lucy." "No, no, no! Three times no. I'd rather see you dead and in your coffin, than hand in hand with the child of my enemy as I saw you to-day..."
Stoker, Bram; THE JEWEL OF THE SEVEN STARS (1903) All at once my senses were full awake. A shriek rang in my ears. The room was filled suddenly with a blaze of light. There was the sound of pistol shots - one, two; and a haze of white smoke in the room. When my waking eyes regained their power, I could have shrieked with horror myself at what I saw before me.
Thackeray, Anne Isabella (Ritchie); OLD KENSINGTON (1873) James (Brand??) was a picturesque figure, advancing between the hedges this bright September morning. He had heavy gaiters, a gun was slung across his shoulders, and a lurcher was leaping at his heels. The old fellow was straight and active, with two blue eyes like pools, and a face as seamed and furrowed as the rocks among which he lived.
Trollope, Frances; THE THREE COUSINS (1847) "Rest where you are, till the noses of your sycophants and menials warn them to open the charnel-house to receive your withered carcase...I never will again outrage the feelings both of body and soul by looking on you..."
Tupper, Martin; STEPHAN LANGTON (1858) Ah! what a difference to her was now the bitter-sweet assurance that Stephan was alive - still her loving, noble-hearted, frank-faced, affianced Stephan, - but dead, stone-dead to her - a monk; while she was equally dead to him (she felt it) - a nun.
Watts-Dunton, Theodore
AYLWIN: THE RENASCENCE OF WONDER (1898)
I felt that from my mouth there issued a voice not mine - a long smothered shriek like that which had seemed to issue from my mouth on that awful night when, looking out of the window, I had heard the noise of the landslip. Then I felt myself whispering "The Curse!" Then I knew no more.
Werner, E
BEACON-FIRES (1891)
"...And am I to believe this of my only son, whom I have brought up myself, and whom I have never let leave my side? When I set you to watch this young person, while she was in your betrothed's society, she bewitched you yourself, for you are palpably bewitched; and yet she plays the part of injured virtue, of a deeply-insulted saint. This creature..."
Weyman, Stanley
COUNT HANNIBAL (1901)
The Countess long remembered that vigil - for she lay late awake; the cool gloom, the faint wood-rustlings, the distant cry of fox or wolf, the soft glow of the expiring fires that at last left the world to darkness and the stars; above all, the silent wheeling of the planets, which spoke indeed of a supreme Ruler, but crushed the heart under a sense of its insignificance, and of the insignificance of all human revolutions.
Whyte-Melville, G J
THE QUEEN'S MARIES (1862)
"I tell you, Mary Stuart, that the day will come when your masques and your music and your mummeries shall be recorded against you in such characters of fire as raised Belshazzar and his nobles from their last revelry on earth."
Worboise, Emma
OLIVER WESTWOOD: OR, OVERCOMING THE WORLD (1878)
"I should not wonder if you were an old maid, Polly." "Should you not, mother? Well, you have never recommended married life, and as I shall be very hard to please, I think it is quite possible. The idea does not frighten me. I don't see why spinsters should not do their work in the world as well as matrons. It's a different work, of course; but one woman is fitted for one set of duties, and another for another. The right thing is, I suppose, to be sure we are doing our duty, and to make the very best of our lives, according to the leadings of Providence.
X
Y
Yonge, Charlotte M
THE DAISY CHAIN (1856)
Etheldred's dream was over. She had wakened to the inside of a Great Western carriage, her father beside her...Her father, to whom her life was to be devoted! She looked at his profile, defined against the window, and did not repent.
Z
Disraeli, Benjamin ENDYMION (1880)
In fact, it was an affair of the wardrobe. The queen of costumes, whose fanciful and gorgeous attire even Zenobia was wont to praise, could not endure a reappearance in old dresses. "I do not so much care about my jewels, William," she said to her husband, "but one must have new dresses."